Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
Going Analog Vintage charm, tactile pleasures, and screen-free finds for a more hands-on life.
55
items What if the good old days weren't really about the past, but about being more present? This collection celebrates the charm of analog living with vintage-inspired technology, hands-on hobbies, classic games, thoughtful hospitality, and tangible ways ...
Sections
5
Old Technology
Back to Books
Entertaining & Hospitality
Hobbies
Games
Old Technology
Rediscover the simple pleasures of technology that was designed to be touched, heard, and experienced rather than endlessly scrolled. From record players and film cameras to classic alarm clocks and rotary-style phones, these vintage-inspired finds b...
This device fits any size record ( as well as offering Bluetooth connectivity just in case you can't quite commit to going screen-free ;-)). Put your dad's hand-me-down record collection or your latest estate sale find to good use and enjoy your musi...
Crosley Cruiser Plus Turntable
Here's an idea. How about using a camera to take pictures? And wouldnt it be cool if they gave you a print copy of the picture you took? You could keep it in a photo album or something and put it on your coffee table to share with visitors. Super coo...
Kodak Printomatic Instant Print Camera Kit
Beautiful analog clock for a table or mantel. Yes, it will need batteries occasionally, but you won't have to charge it everyday! Huge win. Affiliate link.
Brass Table Clock with Wood Base
Super cute retro phone straight out of my childhood. This one has push buttons instead of the circular dial. Comes in various colors but the pink one takes me back... Affiliate link.
Retro Desktop Push Button Telephone - Carnation Pink
Wake up the way your grandparents did with this super simple, inexpensive alarm clock. The bell won't let you hit snooze, so maybe it'll even break you of some bad habits. Affiliate link.
Classic Twin Bell Alarm Clock
This beautiful watch reminds me of a recent experience I had where some young girls in a scout troop were asked to think of a new invention. One girl came up with "a bracelet clock that doesn't need to be charged." LOL. Exactly, dear. Affiliate link.
Gold Dial Round Link Bracelet Watch
Take yourself back to the 80s with this pocket sized portable cassette tape player and radio. Get your morning run in without the radiation and feel better. Affiliate link.
Portable Cassette Players, FM AM Radio Walkman
You can't go running with this but it can certainly work for car or maybe bike trips, or airplanes for that matter! Does anyone still have CDs? I sure do. And the nice thing about that is that no one can simply stop streaming your favorites. If you h...
Portable CD Player with Bass Boost
Type up a letter or document without it having to be stored in the cloud. Total and complete privacy. Unless someone happens to be looking over your shoulder. Just add white-out. ;-) Affiliate link.
Royal Classic Manual Typewriter
To go with the typewriter. It may be a while before we all learn to spell and type correctly again. That's okay. We can make a start anyway and get further ahead than we would have otherwise. Affiliate link.
BIC Wite-Out Correction Fluid
Listen to all your old records, tapes and CDs without having to stream from whatever those on high have decided you can choose from. And do it with total privacy. Make it a family night, along with a good board game. Pop some popcorn while you're at ...
All-In-One Hi-Fi Stereo CD Player Turntable & Digital AM/FM Radio Tuner Tape Cassette Player
You don't need your phone to time the cooking. Just get a cheap kitchen timer. This one never needs batteries. Or charging, for that matter. Affiliate link.
60 Minutes Cooking Timer
Get out a real DVD and have a family movie night. Fred Affaire and Ginger Rogers will have everyone itching to get up and dance in no time. These are the real stars with real talent. Affiliate link.
Swing Time [Blu-ray]
Take up a new hobby like photography. Better yet, treat it like an investment and make some money with it. Affiliate link.
Canon Mirrorless Camera Portrait Photography Kit
Back to Books
Before every answer, memory, and reminder lived in our phones, they lived in books, journals, albums, and handwritten pages. This collection celebrates the enduring value of tangible knowledge, recorded memories, and the simple pleasure of turning a ...
A paper planner is really best because writing things down means you are more likely to remember them than if you typed them. Also a simple design means it can be small, and that allows you to tuck it into your bag and take it with you. Affiliate lin...
Blue Sky 2026 Weekly/Monthly Planner
Do like my grandfather did and plan ahead! Get out your highlighter and trace the route if you want. Then have your spouse navigate. Who needs GPS? We're intelligent enough to find our way. Affiliate link.
Rand McNally 2027 Large Scale Road Atlas, (Paperback)
Despite the title, this is not really about literacy per se, but more about reading deeply and well, something so many of have forgotten or never learned to do. Stop scrolling and pick up a book. Your brain will thank you. Affiliate link.
How to Read a Book - by Mortimer J Adler & Charles Van Doren
Stop taking notes on your phone and start keeping a journal. Paper and pen is good for the soul. And your notes will stay totally private. Affiliate link.
Terracotta Floral Gratitude Journal
How about using an analog camera to take pictures, printing them out and putting them in an album like this? Then your kids and grandkids can look at them anytime they want. And then they will remember better all the special things that happened to t...
Gallery Leather Photo Album 3 Ring Binder 60 Pages for 120 Photos
Do you have a ton of cookbooks on a shelf or in a cabinet that you never use? Look, I can't be the only one who gets annoyed when I'm in the middle of cooking a dish when the screen starts giving me pop-up ads or scrolling back to the top of the blog...
The Pioneer Woman Cooks-The Essential Recipes: 120 Greatest Hits, New Twists, and Perfected Classics
If you want to be more screen-free, it helps to have a written contacts list, to use instead of the app. Use an old-fashioned address book! Affiliate link.
Address Book
Instead of “googling” everything, we looked things up in the encyclopedia. I remember having a set in our house as a kid. I always used them for school, and enjoyed looking up things just for fun. Affiliate link.
Vintage 1960 Encyclopedia Britannica 1768 Edition COMPLETE SET 24 Volumes
Forget the notes app. I love notebooks. And good pens. Truly I do. And now the science tells us that we remember so much more when we put pen to paper rather than type our notes out. I definitely have experienced that. And they make such cute customi...
Modern elegant multi photo family stylish purple notebook
This reminds me so much of the baby book my mother made for me when I was brand new. I still have it and look at it from time to time! Sometimes my kids ask me questions about what kinds of things I did or said when I was a baby, and I can always loo...
Our Baby Girl Memory Book
Entertaining & Hospitality
In a world of quick texts and takeout, there is something special about setting a beautiful table, lighting real candles, and sending a handwritten note. These timeless entertaining and hospitality essentials celebrate the gracious pleasures of gathe...
Get some personalized stationery and start writing letters again. Email gets deleted because it's not special. But handwritren letters are a gem your kids or other relatives may want to keep as a family heirloom. Affiliate link.
Magnolia Letters Stationery
Let's get back to letter writing. Not for everything, of course, because email certainly has its place. But an occasional letter to a friend or relative is a beautiful thing that should not ever go away. Some beautifully crafted rosewood pens certain...
Personalized Rosewood Pen and Case Set
Bring a touch of elegance to your correspondence with a wax seal stamp. The old fashioned way is to drip some candle wax on the envelope where it seals and then stamp before the wax dries. You can also buy premade seals. But that takes all the fun ou...
Royal Crown Laurel Wreath Classic Monogrammed Wax Seal Stamp
Nothing beats coffee made the old-fashioned way, with a French press. And so inexpensive and easy to clean! Why do we overcomplicate things when we really don't need to? Affiliate link.
Sur La Table Double-Wall Glass French Press, 8 Cup
Use real beeswax candles instead of the fake ones you click on with a remote. They purify the air and smell amazing. Developing vision problems? Try candle gazing. But they must be real candles with natural infrared light. Affiliate link.
100% Pure Beeswax Candle
Make dinnertime human again! Spread a tablecloth, light some candles and have someone over for dinner. Affiliate link.
100% Cotton Hand Block Print Tablecloth
Pop some popcorn the old fashioned way with this pot which makes it more doable to turn the crank and pop the corn without it going all over the place. Authentic theater style popcorn too! Affiliate link.
Stainless Steel Whirley Pop Popcorn Popper
I. Love. Charcuterie. Do you? What is it about separating our food into piles that makes it so attractive? Use these idea cards to get some inspiration for the next time you host. Pinterest not needed. Affiliate link.
The Cheese Board Deck: 50 Cards For Styling Spreads, Savory, and Sweet
Hobbies
The best hobbies don't just pass the time—they create something beautiful, useful, or meaningful. Whether you're learning to draw, tending a garden, picking up an instrument, or trying your hand at crochet, these beginner-friendly finds make it easy ...
Did you they make really nice paint by number kits these days? You can just hang it non chalantly over the mantel and say nothing about it and most people will assume it's real art. Affiliate link.
Paint By Numbers Vintage Lake Cabin Kit
Take up a new hobby like painting. I don't want to hear any bellyaching about how you can't draw or paint. ;-) Where there's a will, there's a way. Doing something creative can be so calming too. Affiliate link.
Watercolor Paint Set
Get a subscription to a real newspaper and read it. Bonus points if you bring it with you on your morning commute.
Subscribe to WSJ Newspaper
Need a little guidance with painting? Here are some simple yet beautiful projects you can start with. Affiliate link.
Emily Lex Studio Watercolor Workbook
How about taking up a musical instrument? Will it require a lot of practice? Well, yes, but that is what makes it so fun and rewarding. Be the musician in your family, and convince the others to join you. Be a musical family. There are few things in ...
Acoustic Violin for Beginner
Try your hand at a little needlework. Hey, it's good for hand eye coordination! ;-) Not to mention eye exercise to keep vision sharp. Plus it's fun. What's not to love? Affiliate link.
Cotton Clara Cross Stitch Kit
Not ready for violin or piano? Guitar might be the thing. A very beginner friendly kind of instrument. Affiliate link.
Classical Acoustic Guitar
Here's a good example of a used starter piano in great condition, in case you regret telling Mom you didn't want to continue those piano lessons… Plug in some headphones so you don't disturb your neighbors and you're good to go. Affiliate link.
Used Digital Piano
Want to take up crocheting but make something nice that you'll actually use? This beginner crochet kit to make your own handbag is perfect. Comes with a video lesson and pdf so you'll know step by step exactly what to do. Affiliate link.
Crochet Starter Kit – Everything You Need to Make Your First Crochet Bag
Nothing simpler than pencil and paper. Learn how to draw! It's so satisfying to make something and feel like you are capable after all. Affiliate link.
30-Minute Drawing for Beginners
Start a garden and grow some of your own food. (I'll let you in on a little secret: it doesn't have to be spring to plant seeds.) Different plants grow at different times throughout the year. If it's winter where you are, you can grow something indoo...
Raised Garden Bed Kit
Here's a cute little garden tool set that will get the job done, and since you have a place to stash your tools while working, you won't easily lose them. Affiliate link.
9-Piece Stainless Steel Gardening Tool Set with Floral Tote Bag
A good beginner friendly set of seeds you can start your garden with. I recommend planting tallest plants in the center of a raised bed, perhaps on a trellis, medium ones around them, and smallest on the outside, and line the whole bed with fragrant ...
Heirloom Vegetable Seed Starter Kit – 20 Easy-to-Grow Varieties
This is a great book on just how you can pack in all those plants in the most efficient and fruitful way possible, and keep critters out too. Great for beginners. Affiliate link.
Leaves, Roots & Fruit: A Step-by-Step Guide to Planting an Organic Kitchen Garden
Games
Some of life's best memories are made around a game table, in the backyard, or gathered with friends and family. From classic card games and chess to cornhole, pickleball, and lawn games, these screen-free favorites bring people together for a little...
Personalize your own mega topple tower game. Great for outdoor parties ( or indoor ones for that matter). Affiliate link.
Vintage Rose Pattern Topple Tower
Here's a collection of classic board games disguised as books! Keep them handy on the bookshelf until game time and they'll look snazzy all the time. Affiliate link.
Vintage Bookshelf Board Games Bundle
Here's a simple game that gets everyone up and engaged. Great for Sunday afternoons after church. Affiliate link.
Croquet Yard Game
Card games are another option for family game night. So many possibilities! Affiliate link.
William Shakespeare Playing Cards
Don't know any good card games? This book has you covered. It has lists of games for every skill level so you can pick one that matches your family or group. Affiliate link.
Super Fun Family Card Games: 75 Games for All Ages
Nothing like corn hole to stir up a little healthy competition. You can personalize these, or choose from many other ones on Zazzle, which just happens to be the best place to personalize just about anything. Affiliate link.
Custom Rustic Family Monogram Name Barn Wood Cornhole Set
Pickleball is a great way to get some exercise out in the sunshine and stir up a little competition too. Affiliate link.
Monogram Outdoor Pickleball Paddle
They're trying to convince us now that video games are good for the brain. Puhleeze. Not many games can compete with chess when it comes to brain building. Affiliate link.
Pink Marble Chess Set
This has 1000 pieces but I actually think it would be pretty easy to do this one because it has so much variety of color in it. My daughter and I did a black and white one recently and oof-that was hard. Affiliate link.
BenBen Jigsaw Puzzles 1000 Pieces for ages 12+